The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 254: The Foundation of the Revitalization of the Prosperous Era
Wanli wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty and create a truly prosperous era.

This cannot be achieved without the use of force.

Military force is the foundation of strength.

The ups and downs of the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years are a clear proof of this.

During the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, the Ming Dynasty was so powerful that it was almost invincible, and thus entered an era of prosperity.

And then nothing happened. The army stopped fighting and the people were supported, and the military power became weaker and weaker. The Ming Dynasty was destined to decline and fall to the end.

Therefore, military force is the foundation of strength.

The Ming Dynasty spent more than two hundred years to prove this.

However, the Ming Dynasty in history is a negative example. The Ming Dynasty destroyed its own military power and eventually perished.

It was during the same period that the European powers also spent more than two hundred years to prove this point.

They tried every possible way to develop their military power, and thus became extremely powerful.

Wanli was well aware of this, so he developed his military power in a militaristic manner.

The Beijing Army and the border troops gradually became stronger, and the Ming Dynasty also gradually became stronger.

However, this is not enough. The navy is the foundation of the foundation.

At this time, the Age of Exploration was in full swing, and the navy was the foundation of strength.

It can be said that whoever controls the sea can dominate the world.

There is no doubt about this.

At this time, Wanli was also trying his best to develop military force and navy.

This is not difficult at all. As long as you have money, everything is easy.

It just so happened that the navy needed kerosene tanks, and lamp oil was also valuable at the time, so he thought of refining petroleum to make kerosene tanks and make money at the same time.

It's not easy to refine oil these days.

Because the oil refining technology at that time was a blank.

Wanli didn't even know at what temperature he had to raise the temperature to produce what kind of oil.

At this moment, there was not even anything to measure the temperature, not even the oil barrels that were most common in later generations!

Fortunately, he was the emperor, and as long as he said a word, someone would help him make anything, no matter how difficult it was.

He said something to Yongnianbo Wang Wei, and two iron barrels, half a meter high and about three feet thick, were quickly made.

Just two, which is not a problem for Yongnianbo Wang Wei. It doesn’t take long to make them by hand. If he can make ten thousand or even twenty thousand a day, he will have to rely on water wheels and molds.

He told Zhou Danquan something, and a large glass tube one foot long and one inch in diameter was quickly made. There were evenly embossed scales on the wall of the tube, and a glass lid on top, with mercury poured an inch high inside.

Everything was ready, and two hundred tanks of oil were brought back from Yansui Town.

The so-called two hundred water tanks were two hundred large water tanks, each of which was half a meter in size. Each tank weighed two to three thousand pounds and was impossible to lift. They had to prepare two hundred more water tanks on the shore, and then, like carrying water, they had to carry the water from the water tanks on the boat and pour it into the water tanks on the shore one by one.

This whole ordeal was very tiring for the soldiers in the Beijing camp. Many of them had black oil stains on their hands and even on their clothes that could not be washed off.

Fortunately, it’s okay to get oil on your hands and clothes. Just wash your hands more often and it will be washed off after a few days. You can just throw away the clothes and replace them with new ones.

The next step is to try to refine it.

This was a bit dangerous, so Wanli specially ordered people to build a large shed with a radius of more than ten meters on the open grassland in Beijiaochang, specifically for the purpose of testing.

He also specially distributed protective items such as sheepskin soft armor, fish scale armor, helmets, leather gloves, and masks to the craftsmen who participated in the experiment.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, he personally came to the North Arena and stood in the outer shed with Duke Peng Qi Jiguang, Earl of Yongnian Wang Wei, Earl of Xinjian Wang Chengxun and others, ready to direct the craftsmen to conduct experiments.

At this time, the stove and iron pot had been set up in the middle shed. An iron bucket was placed in the pot with an iron rack as thick as an arm, and another iron bucket was placed on the ground three or four feet away. The iron pipe connecting the middle was also supported by a wooden rack.

The craftsmen who participated in the experiment were like military generals, wearing soft armor, gloves and masks, and waiting with various things in their hands.

Wanli raised his telescope and took a closer look. Then he raised his hand and said, "Okay, let's start. First, carry a load of oil to the middle."

He was afraid that the oil would catch fire as well, so he ordered people to place the large water tank containing oil in another shed outside.

The distance between these sheds is more than ten feet, or about thirty to forty meters, and there are many water tanks and buckets filled with water between the sheds. Even if a fire breaks out, the fire should not spread to the outer sheds.

Upon hearing this, the craftsman who was carrying buckets hurriedly picked up two empty wooden barrels and walked to the shed where the oil was stored. He opened the wooden lid on a large water tank, then scooped two buckets of oil with a large wooden spoon used to scoop manure and carried them back to the middle shed.

This step is definitely fine.

Seeing this, Wanli said loudly: "Open the lid and pour both barrels of oil in."

There are two round holes on the large iron barrel on this iron pot, one is connected to the iron pipe, and the other is covered with a threaded iron lid.

Upon hearing this, another strong craftsman immediately climbed onto the stove, climbed up the steps on the stove, lay on the iron bucket, unscrewed the lid, and then stuffed an iron funnel into the hole.

Immediately afterwards, the craftsman carrying the load handed over two barrels of oil.

The strong craftsman picked up the oil and slowly poured it into the iron barrel, then screwed on the iron lid. This step was completed.

Seeing this, Wanli said loudly: "Okay, put the temperature measuring device on the iron rack in the pot, add water, and let the water cover the iron rack by about half a foot."

He also specially ordered someone to make a copper sheath for the temperature measuring glass tube, with a base underneath, and the scale exposed outside.

The craftsmen were quite familiar with this. It was actually similar to steaming wine, except that they were not steaming wine. Soon, they had everything ready.

Seeing this, Wanli said loudly: "Okay, light the firewood and boil the water."

This is even simpler, and all craftsmen who light firewood and boil water have done it.

The firewood in the stove had been burning for less than a quarter of an hour when the water in the pot began to boil.

Wanli looked at the large thermometer and saw that the mercury column inside seemed to have only risen by more than an inch, which was 100 degrees.

Can any oil be evaporated at this temperature?

He scanned the area carefully with the telescope, then said loudly, "Listen and see if there's any oil dripping from the barrel down there."

Another craftsman quickly went to the iron barrel below, put his ear close to it and listened carefully. Then he nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, there is a sound of dripping oil."

What is dripping now may not be oil, there may also be water in the oil.

But it doesn’t matter, just burn it for a while longer.

Wanli nodded slightly and said loudly: "Just stand there and listen from time to time until there is no sound of dripping oil."

This is relatively time-consuming.

They waited for nearly half an hour before the carpenter said cautiously, "Your Majesty, there's no more dripping oil."

Now it's time to check the results.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said excitedly, "Quick, put out the fire in the stove completely. Don't leave any sparks."

If you don't leave any sparks, you can only use water.

Upon hearing this, another craftsman who was in charge of putting out the fire immediately picked up a bucket of water and poured it into the stove.

The fire was extinguished very quickly.

When Wanli saw the fire was out, he immediately ran over and pointed at the pipe on the iron barrel on the ground and said, "Open it."

This is simple because the oil outlet does not need to be sealed too much. It is just a smooth iron pipe with a copper sleeve. The iron pipe is inserted into the bucket, and the copper sleeve presses the gap on the edge to seal it.

Upon hearing this, the carpenter next to him immediately grabbed the iron pipe and lifted it up slightly, and the iron pipe was pulled out.

gasoline!

The strong smell of gasoline filled the facade.

Wanli sniffed it and immediately said in a loud voice: "Get a clean bucket and pour it out to see how much there is."

This is easy. The bucket you just poured water into is clean.

The craftsmen brought buckets of water, lifted the iron bucket together and poured the water in, but less than half of the bucket was gone.

One bucket of this kind can hold about 50 kilograms of water, and two buckets can hold about 100 kilograms.

In other words, one hundred kilograms of crude oil can roughly produce more than ten to twenty kilograms of gasoline.

Of course, there might still be some water in it.

However, it’s not a big problem, they are used to make kerosene tanks.

Wanli took a closer look and then said decisively, "Get the oil tank, pour all the oil in it, and plug it, otherwise the oil will be gone after a while."

These kerosene cans had been made long ago and packed in a box. When the box was opened, which was about a foot square, twelve kerosene cans as thick as children's arms were neatly placed inside, separated by cardboard.

The craftsmen took two boxes of empty kerosene cans, opened the corks, and carefully poured in the oil using a funnel. In total, they poured less than nineteen cans before they were all gone.

This is about 18 or 19 pounds, because a kerosene can can hold about one pound of oil.

Next, continue heating.

However, water is no longer enough and needs to be replaced with sand. Water can no longer rise above 100 degrees. The heat conductivity of sand depends on how strong the fire is. It should be fine within 500 degrees.

Wanli ordered the craftsmen to heat it while explaining the experimental method to Yongnian Earl Wang Wei.

He used a simple method, slowly heating the sand until the iron bucket underneath could hear the dripping sound. He would maintain this temperature until the dripping sound stopped, and then pour it out to see what it was.

As a result, the temperature rose to about 150 degrees and oil began to drip from the barrel again.

This time, it also dripped for less than two quarters of an hour before it disappeared. As a result, the oil that poured out was colorless and odorless, just like water!
Wanli didn't know what kind of oil it was, so he could only store it in kerosene cans.

Then it burned to about 200 degrees and started dripping oil again.

This time it was kerosene that dripped out!
However, kerosene seems to produce only a little more than the previous one, but a little less than gasoline. One hundred kilograms of crude oil can only produce about fifteen kilograms of kerosene.

Now that the kerosene was available, Wanli felt relieved. He then handed it over to Yongnian Earl Wang Wei and others to try it out slowly.

The next step is to make kerosene lamps and kerosene lighters, and then the kerosene can be sold for money.

The current price of kerosene is 20 jin for one tael of silver. If he can reduce the price to 30 jin for one tael of silver, there will definitely be a huge market for it.

As for the cost, oil has almost no cost. Coal can be used for heating. Even if one hundred kilograms of coal can be used to refine one hundred kilograms of crude oil, the profit is five times.

What's more, it takes less than 100 kilograms of coal to refine 100 kilograms of crude oil. Moreover, 100 kilograms of crude oil does not only produce 15 kilograms of kerosene, there are other things as well.

The profits here are simply too amazing.

(End of this chapter)